LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Despite battling back from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth set Thursday, Little Rock was unable to complete the reverse sweep, falling 3-2 to Tennessee Tech in a pivotal conference match at the Jack Stephens Center.
A slow start put the Trojans (14-13, 9-6 OVC) behind after dropping the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-22. They responded with dominant performances in the third and fourth frames (25-13 and 25-11), but Tennessee Tech (13-14, 10-5) edged out the final set, 17-15.
The second and final match of the series is set for 6:00 p.m. tomorrow in Little Rock, where the Trojans will look to earn a win to pull even with the Golden Eagles in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
"We started slow, and this is a team that you have to bring energy against," head coach
Van Compton said. "We were just kind of going through the motions early on, and then in the third set, we realized we had to increase the intensity to stay in it. We played extremely well in those third and fourth sets and then battled back in the fifth. I was proud of the way they kept fighting. We could've had a reverse sweep tonight, but we have a chance to come out tomorrow, and if we can beat them in three or four, we'll win the tiebreaker."
Little Rock overcame strong early hitting from Tennessee Tech, as the Golden Eagles posted attack percentages of .387 in the first set and .324 in the second. The Trojans shut down that attack from that point forward, holding TTU to just .024 in the third, -.025 in the fourth, and .040 in the fifth. Little Rock finished with a .221 attack percentage compared to .140 for the visitors.
Sophia Garrido and
Andrea Roman each established new career highs — Garrido with 17 kills while hitting .361, and Roman with 38 digs on the defensive end. Both players surpassed their previous career marks by one. Roman is now just 13 digs shy of the 1,500-dig milestone for her career and 138 away from tying the program's all-time record of 1,625.
A'lanae Margaritha (12 kills, .348) and
Avery Fearnley (nine kills, .333) provided additional offensive support, while
Dariana Valencia recorded a double-double with 29 assists and 13 digs.
Crismeyli Rodriguez finished one kill shy of a double-double, tallying nine kills and 10 digs.
Jaycee Kennedy (4) and
Bella Cherry (3) led the team in blocks.
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